Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 2/16/2022
OTIS – Families from all over Western Mass. turned out on a 50-degree Saturday in mid-February for the third annual Cardboard Box race at the Otis Ridge Ski Area.
The parking area was packed Feb. 12, and Otis Ridge General Manager Eric VanOostveen said they exceeded the 40 cap on entrants with some latecomers. He said the racers and their families had obviously spent time and thought adorning their cardboard race vehicles.
Participation was free in exchange for donations of non-perishable items for the Otis Food Pantry.
Jay Pagluica of Westfield announced team names, giving play-by-play and winning times as two racing sleds at a time lined up to go head-to-head, some with multiple young people in them. Whether it was the warm temperatures or snow kicked up from prior crashes, a lot of the box racers veered off course, but times were still announced as the “drivers” and family picked them up and ran them across the finish line.
One solo driver did an unexpected 360-degree flip, coming out of it with a thumbs-up to cheers all around.
After some deliberation, VanOstveen and Pagluica announced the winners, who received an Otis Ridge prize pack of T-shirts and other ski area sundries.
Two racers made the downhill trip in 8.5 seconds. “Fastest” awards were given to Jaiden White of Southwick in “Adios” and Shawn and Cole Keeley of Hampden in “Super-Fast the Boat,” which was equipped with wings like a jet.
“Most creative” awards were given to Lincoln Labrie of Westfield for his “Turbo Taco” racer, and the Pink Unicorn, whose owners left the event before they could be identified.
VanOostveen thanked everyone for coming and pointed out Justin LaFrance and his Stockbridge-based company JDog Junk Removal and Hauling, which was parked at the base to haul away the crashed cardboard racers for free.
“This is one of the few sports you can do as a whole family,” Pagluica said, adding that he and VanOostveen used to run the race together at the Blandford Ski Area every year.